‘Are You BLIND?!’ DeSantis Loses It On Reporter Asking Him Why He Didn’t Take Questions from Voters

Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis snapped at a reporter who pressed him about not taking audience questions following a campaign speech in New Hampshire.

Governor DeSantis officially launched his presidential campaign last week with an audio-only Twitter Spaces event hosted by Elon Musk that was dubbed a “DeSaster” due to the event’s copious technical glitches and relatively small footprint.

Since then, he has taken to campaigning in early states like Iowa and New Hampshire, where he spoke Thursday for about an hour to a crowd in Laconia on what his campaign is calling the “Our Great American Comeback” tour.

DeSantis concluded the event to enthusiastic applause, then dashed off the stage without taking questions from the event attendees.

Afterward, DeSantis posed for pictures and chatted with members of the audience, while one reporter pressed the candidate about not doing a Q&A with voters.

The reporter, Steve Peoples of the Associated Press, wrote on Twitter:

I just asked DeSantis why he hasn’t taken any questions from voters so far:

“People are coming up to me, talking to me. What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.”

The moment was flagged by NBC’s Jonathan Allen, who posted video of the encounter:

After declining to take audience questions after his first New Hampshire campaign event today, Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter for asking him about it while he was chatting with members of the crowd individually.

Here’s the video, via @NBCNews —> pic.twitter.com/Z2WtLy0JNj

— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) June 1, 2023

DeSantis is currently the closest rival to former President Donald Trump, but trails the frontrunner by margins in the 20s, 30s, and even in excess of forty points in one recent poll.

Watch above via The National Desk and NBC News.